CFK Weekly— May 27, 2003

We encourage distribution of this information! If reprinting in whole or part, please attribute it to Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org).

NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Fresh Takes on Teen Health Issues
**Help Kids Succeed in School!
**Talk Back: Readers Respond, March-May 2003

EXAMINING ONE OF THE BIGGEST TAX CUTS IN HISTORY
**Can the Tax Cuts Jumpstart the Economy?
**Final Tax Cut Agreement Makes Heavier Use of Gimmicks Than House or Senate Bills
**Education, Social Programs Threatened by Tax Cuts
**Most Latino Families Left Out of Tax Cuts

RAISING A CHILD TODAY -- GAPS IN FAMILY POVERTY AND AFFLUENCE
**Reality Check -- How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Child?
**Do You Need Help?
**KIDS COUNT Pocket Guides on Latino and African-American Children
**Leaving Teachers Behind
**IRS "Pre-Certification" May Harm Low-Income Families

LEARNING TO READ -- WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
**A Phonics-Plus Approach
**Analysis Calls Phonics Findings Into Question
**Teaching Children to Read: The Fight Over a Focus on Phonics

INFANT HEALTH AND SAFETY
**Newborn Screening: Characteristics of State Programs
**Birth Defects Tracking and Prevention One Year Later: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?

FCC AND CHILDREN'S TV
**Big Media, Little Kids: Media Consolidation and Children's TV Programming

PAYING ATTENTION TO TEENS
**Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help
**Permanency Planning: Creating Life Long Connections for Teens in Foster Care
**14 and Younger: The Sexual Behavior of Young Adolescents
**Tribal Youth Initiatives
**Teen Work -- Not Just for Fun
**Job Dearth This Summer Deprives Kids of More Than Money
** National Survey of Adolescents and Young Adults

HEAD START REAUTHORIZATIONS IN CONGRESS
**The Early Childhood Learning Community Looks at Reauthorization
**Action Alert to Save Head Start
**House Republicans Say Plan Will Strengthen Head Start
**One Program's View of Head Start Changes

IDEA REAUTHORIZATION
**House IDEA Reauthorization Leaves Out Mandatory Full Federal Funding
**Suspending Disbelief: Moving Beyond Punishment to Promote Effective Interventions for Children with Mental or Emotional Disorders
**Derailed: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track

GUIDANCE FOR PARENTING SCHOOL-AGE KIDS
**Helping Young Students Read
**Reading, Writing, Math: How Parents Can Help Children Succeed in School
**Helping Your Child Become A Responsible Citizen
**Parent's Guide for Inhalant Prevention
**A Family Guide To Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy & Drug Free

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES COMES UP FOR REAUTHORIZATION
**The Education/Training Requirement for TANF Teen Parents
**Most States Fall Far Short of Meeting New TANF Requirements
**Achieving Compromise on Welfare Reform Reauthorization
**Measuring Success of TANF for Children: Congress Considers Two Options
**Age, Race, and Children's Living Arrangements: Implications for TANF Reauthorization
**Urban Institute TANF Fact Sheet

FOCUS ON THE STATES

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PRIVACY POLICY

NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS

**Fresh Takes on Teen Health Issues
Remember when the middle-school health teacher used to pull down the shades, turn off the lights, and show strange, stilted short films about the hazards of pot and sex? By pairing up teen writers and actors with professional directors and producers, Scenarios USA is shaking up the genre with powerful--and sometimes controversial--films.
http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=171018

**Help Kids Succeed in School!
Maybe you've seen our public service announcements on radio, television and in newspapers and magazine. We put together tools and ideas to get involved in our children's education.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_subject.htm?doc_id=82761

**Talk Back: Readers Respond, March-May 2003
Connect for Kids' Child Nutrition Campaign, resources for child victims of sexual abuse and reading programs for boys--these are some of the recent stories from Connect for Kids that drew reader responses. See what everyone had to say, and feel free to join the conversation.
http://www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=171020


EXAMINING ONE OF THE BIGGEST TAX CUTS IN HISTORY

**Can the Tax Cuts Jumpstart the Economy?
The Christian Science Monitor reports on one of the largest tax cut packages in history -- and the skepticism of both conservative and liberal economists that it will have much impact on the economy. While the Bush administration and the Republican majority in Congress argue that the tax cuts will boost jobs, most economists say it is too big for the federal budget to swallow without deepening deficits far into the future, and too little for the nation's economy to make a long-term difference.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0523/p01s01-usec.html

**Final Tax Cut Agreement Makes Heavier Use of Gimmicks Than House or Senate Bills
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that the tax-cut package worked out by House and Senate Republican leaders keeps the official cost under $350 billion through 2013 only through the massive use of "budget timing gimmicks" -- most of the provisions expire between 2004 and 2008; if renewed the actual cost to the government could be between $800 billion and $1 trillion by 2013.
http://www.cbpp.org/5-22-03tax.htm

**Education, Social Programs Threatened by Tax Cuts
The Children's Defense Fund says instead of high-priced tax cuts for high-end households, the federal government would be wiser to invest in early education, health care and other programs for our children.
http://capwiz.com/cdf/issues/alert/?alertid=2287221&type=CU

**Most Latino Families Left Out of Tax Cuts
More than nine in ten Latino children live in families that will not benefit from a cut in the stock dividend tax, according to the Children's Defense Fund.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/release030522.php


RAISING A CHILD TODAY -- GAPS IN FAMILY POVERTY AND AFFLUENCE

**Reality Check -- How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Child?
The answer depends on whether you are an affluent or low-income family. For middle-income, two-child, married-couple families, the yearly expenses per child are between $9,230 and $10,300, according to the USDA's annual "Expenditures for Children by Families" report, but affluent families spend about twice as much raising each child to adulthood as low-income families.
http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/Crc/crc2002.pdf

**Do You Need Help?
Answer fewer than 100 questions and find out if you or your child could be eligible for child care assistance, help with housing, college fellowships, health care coverage and a wide range of other government benefit programs.
http://www.GovBenefits.gov

**KIDS COUNT Pocket Guides on Latino and African-American Children
Using national and state-specific indicators of child well-being in 2000 Census data, Annie E. Casey Foundation's guides chart the persistent gaps between minority children and non-Hispanic whites in measures such as poverty rates for married-couple families.
http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/

**Leaving Teachers Behind
A key goal of the No Child Left Behind legislation was to ensure that low-income and minority students are not disproportionately taught by unqualified, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers. ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) reports that, in contrast to its attention to academic testing, school choice and supplemental services, the Department of Education has failed to monitor state efforts to recruit, retain, and support quality teachers and to support the equitable distribution of highly qualified teachers.
http://www.acorn.org/acorn10/betterschools/releases/ltb.htm

**IRS "Pre-Certification" May Harm Low-Income Families
Some people will get a rebate check in July, but the IRS has something different in store for 45,000 low-income grandparents, stepparents and others eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for children in their care. As part of a pre-certification process, low-income families will have to complete daunting new tax forms. The move is designed to cut down on waste and fraud -- but many Members of Congress question the rationale, noting that low-wage taxpayers cost the U.S. Treasury an estimated $6.5 billion a year, but high-income individuals cost the Treasury some $132 billion a year in tax avoidance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has posted the draft tax forms and an analysis of their harmful impact on families.
http://www.cbpp.org/eitc-precert.htm


LEARNING TO READ -- WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS

**A Phonics-Plus Approach
In the article, "Teaching Children to Read: The Fragile Link Between Science and Federal Education Policy," researchers who re-analyzed the data in the Teaching Children to Read report conclude that combining language activities and tutoring with systematic phonics instruction can triple the effectiveness of phonics alone.
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n15/

**Analysis Calls Phonics Findings Into Question
Education Week reviewed the research and reported on the controversy over how the research is being used to justify federal literacy policy. (New users will have to complete the free registration.)
http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=37read.h22

**Teaching Children to Read: The Fight Over a Focus on Phonics
The National Reading Panel's 2000 report "Teaching Children to Read" is often cited as the basis for the Bush Administration's Reading First initiative, which emphasizes phonics instruction above other approaches. While the report found systematic phonics instruction very effective in teaching young and slow readers to read and spell better, its findings were not one-dimensional. For example, the report says, "programs that focus too much on the teaching of letter-sound relations and not enough on putting them to use are unlikely to be very effective."
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/findings.htm


INFANT HEALTH AND SAFETY

**Newborn Screening: Characteristics of State Programs
This General Accounting Office (GAO) report details state screening programs for newborns to detect genetic and metabolic disorders. Among the findings: state newborn screening programs vary in the number of disorders for which they screen, and fewer than one-fourth of the states provide information for parents on their option to test for additional disorders.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03449.pdf

**Birth Defects Tracking and Prevention One Year Later: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?
The Trust for America's Health says last year, four out of five states took specific steps to improve their birth defects tracking and prevention programs, but budget crises are threatening birth defects registries and other public health measures.
http://healthyamericans.org/state/birthdefects/files/2003bdreportupdate.pdf


FCC AND CHILDREN'S TV

**Big Media, Little Kids: Media Consolidation and Children's TV Programming
On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will announce sweeping changes to regulations governing how many media outlets a single company can own. A new Children Now study finds that such consolidation can hamper quality children's programming. Five years after media consolidation in Los Angeles (the country's second largest media market), there are far fewer children's series, fewer broadcast hours of children's programming and an increase in repurposed children's programs.
http://www.childrennow.org


PAYING ATTENTION TO TEENS

**Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help
If past patterns continue, two-thirds of all young adults ages 19 to 23 today are likely to lack insurance at some point over the next four years, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Teens are often dropped from their parents' policies or public insurance programs at age 19, and the jobs available to them rarely provide health benefits. Over the past decade, the situation has gotten worse. Systemic changes that stabilize universal health insurance coverage would help, but in the meantime, researchers recommend increasing the age limits for coverage to 23.
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/insurance/collins_riteofpassage_ib_649.pdf

**Permanency Planning: Creating Life Long Connections for Teens in Foster Care
Though they may seem rebellious, teens have a strong need to belong in a family, to be taken seriously, and to be able to rely on continued community and family support as they move from adolescence to independence. Life skills alone are not enough. This University of Oklahoma National Resource Center for Youth Development monograph provides a starting place to begin developing assessment tools, policy and programming that responds to the needs and supports identified as essential in achieving safety, permanency, and well-being for adolescents in foster care.
http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/PDFs/Mono.pdf

**14 and Younger: The Sexual Behavior of Young Adolescents
Approximately one in five adolescents has had sexual intercourse before his or her 15th birthday, according to a new report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Between half and three-quarters of youth age 12 to 14 report that they used contraception the first time they had sex, but one in seven 14-year-old girls who have had sex reports becoming pregnant. Dating an older partner is a clear sign of risk for young teens. The most recent nationally representative data available from the 1990s suggests that sex among older teens (age 15-19) was declining while the rate for those under age 15 was increasing.
http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/youngteens/default.asp

** National Survey of Adolescents and Young Adults
This Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that sexual health issues are a "big concern" for more youth age 15 to 24 than any other issue. Topics include pressures to have sex and concerns about STDs and AIDS.
http://www.kff.org/content/2003/3218/

**Tribal Youth Initiatives
Many tribal communities are beset by high rates of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, alcohol abuse, and gang involvement--all risk factors for juvenile delinquency. Given such factors, it is not surprising that while the violent crime rate for U.S. youth has steadily declined over the past several years, the rate is growing in some tribal communities. This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention bulletin has information, resources, and ways to get involved in helping tribal youth excel.
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/193763/contents.html

**Teen Work -- Not Just for Fun
Based on interviews with students, the Family and Work Institute reports high school students are working to earn money for long-term goals like college and to help their families out. Teens say getting the job done and working well under pressure are key work skills, but tend to overlook the literacy and computer skills that potential employers are likely to value. Teens also want employers to see them as hardworking and dedicated, and not judge them based on negative stereotypes.
http://www.familiesandwork.org/summary/yande.pdf

**Job Dearth This Summer Deprives Kids of More Than Money
State and local budget crunches and an unemployment rate that has many adults taking jobs usually reserved for out-of-school teens have led to the slimmest summer job prospects for teens in decades. For low-income kids, this will be a particular hardship -- compared to their middle-class counterparts, they tend to benefit even more from learning workplace skills early on, and tend to have fewer other options to keep busy when school is out.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0521/p01s03-usec.html

HEAD START REAUTHORIZATIONS IN CONGRESS

**House Republicans Say Plan Will Strengthen Head Start
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce says its reauthorization legislation will strengthen the Head Start program by giving states flexibility to improve early learning programs, and discouraging cuts in early learning funding.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press108/05may/headstartintro052203.htm

**The Early Childhood Learning Community Looks at Reauthorization
The National Association for the Education of Young Children outlines the concerns of the early learning community about the proposed changes to the Head Start program -- specifically that new rules may make it easier for cash-strapped states to channel Head Start funds to other programs; national quality and outcome standards would disappear, leaving states free to "reduce the bar"; and inadequate federal funding and state budget cuts may mean quality will suffer in Head Start and other early child hood programs.
http://naeyc.org/childrens_champions/federal.asp

**Action Alert to Save Head Start
Early childhood learning advocates want Congress to be sure that proposed "improvements" don't end up dismantling an effective program.
http://www.saveheadstart.org

**House Republicans Say Plan Will Strengthen Head Start
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce says its reauthorization legislation will strengthen the Head Start program by giving states flexibility to improve early learning programs, and discouraging cuts in early learning funding.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press108/05may/headstartintro052203.htm

**One Program's View of Head Start Changes
In the article, "Head Start," Connect for Kids Executive Director Cecilia Garcia speaks with a Head Start director worried about the proposed legislative changes that could undermine her program.
http://www.connectforkids.org/content1554/content_show.htm?attrib_id=324&doc_id=169527

IDEA REAUTHORIZATION

**House IDEA Reauthorization Leaves Out Mandatory Full Federal Funding
According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, the House-approved legislation reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes a provision allowing states to use up to 15 percent of their IDEA funding for early intervention programs. But the bill does not address mandatory federal funding for the IDEA law that provides free public education to over 6 million children with disabilities. The House-approved reauthorization also makes it easier to remove disabled children from the classroom for any violation of school policy, not just serious offenses, a provision opposed by the Council for Exceptional Children, the Children's Defense Fund and others. The Senate has not yet approved its IDEA bill.
http://www.all4ed.org/publications/Volume3No9.html#IDEA

**Suspending Disbelief: Moving Beyond Punishment to Promote Effective Interventions for Children with Mental or Emotional Disorders
One of the contentious issues in the IDEA reauthorization is whether school discipline policies and practices should take disability into account. According to the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, schools can successfully address the reasons behind problem behavior of students with disabilities, as required by the current federal special education law, in ways that lead to "fewer behavior problems and an atmosphere of learning instead of constant power struggles."
http://www.bazelon.org/newsroom/5-16-03suspendingdisbelief.htm

**Derailed: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
Youth of color and students with special needs have been harmed by zero-tolerance policies that have disproportionately pushed them from school into the juvenile justice system. "Acts once handled by a principal or parent are now being handled by prosecutors and the police," says Judith Browne, senior attorney and author of this Advancement Project report.
http://www.advancementproject.org


GUIDANCE FOR PARENTING SCHOOL-AGE KIDS

**Helping Young Students Read
Are you tutoring a child in second grade? Here is a basic list with good descriptions of how adults can model reading skills, help children think through what they're reading, improve their strategies for decoding words and more from Reading Rockets.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article.php?ID=168

**Reading, Writing, Math: How Parents Can Help Children Succeed in School
In this MegaSkills minibook, Dorothy Rich has practical ideas to help parents incorporate reading, writing and math skills as part of everyday routines in ways that nurture children's natural curiosity and eagerness to learn. Cost: Bulk orders are $160 for each packet of 20. Contact MegaSkills at edstaff@megaskillshsi.org
http://www.MegaSkillsHSI.org

**Helping Your Child Become A Responsible Citizen
This Department of Education parenting guidebook has practical information on how to raise a child who is compassionate, honest, respectful and self-disciplined. Among the suggestions is the "OOPS activity"--what to do when you as a parent behave badly.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/citizen/index.html

**Parent's Guide for Inhalant Prevention
One out of every five American teens has used an inhalant to get high. This Partnership for a Drug-Free America guide helps inform parents about the risks of inhalant use.
http://www.drugfreeamerica.com/Templates/Inhalants_Category.asp?ws=PDFA&vol=1&grp=Parents%2FCaregivers&cat=Inhalants+Prevention%2DParent%27s+Guide&top=Articles

**A Family Guide To Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy & Drug Free
This Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Web site offers caretakers, guardians, and mentors suggestions for better communication with children, as well as other tips that aid in prevention.
http://family.samhsa.gov


PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES COMES UP FOR REAUTHORIZATION

This year, Congress is set to renew the requirements and funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which supports the country's most vulnerable families and children. Connect for Kids is tracking the reauthorization and the impact proposed changes may have on kids and families.

**The Education/Training Requirement for TANF Teen Parents
This six-page fact sheet describes the education/training requirement for unmarried, custodial minor parents in the TANF program, summarizes relevant research, and offers recommendations for reauthorization.
http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1052940241.38/teen_ed_req.pdf

**Most States Fall Far Short of Meeting New TANF Requirements
A new analysis by the Congressional Research Service concludes that most states would have fallen far short of the 70-percent work participation mandate under the House-approved TANF legislation. Only two states would have met the required rates, and another two would have been within three percentage points of doing so. This Center on Law and Social Policy report explores the policy implications of this analysis.
http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1052947804.35/CRS_participation.pdf

**Achieving Compromise on Welfare Reform Reauthorization
Brookings Institution scholars at opposite ends of the political spectrum--conservative Ron Haskins and liberal Paul Offner--detail the contentious issues in reauthorizing the welfare reform legislation and offer an outline for compromise.
http://www.brookings.edu/es/research/projects/wrb/publications/pb/pb25.htm

**Measuring Success of TANF for Children: Congress Considers Two Options
Lawmakers say a major goal of the TANF reauthorization is to promote the well-being of children. The Research Forum explains the two possible strategies to measure child well-being that are being considered.
http://www.researchforum.org

**Age, Race, and Children's Living Arrangements: Implications for TANF Reauthorization
Emerging research shows that children who live with both of their biological parents are better off than children who live in "blended families" with one biological parent and a stepparent. But the administration's marriage promotion funds proposed in the TANF reauthorization do not distinguish between these two types of marriages. The result, according to this Urban Institute review, is that states could use the money to promote blended families rather than stable, nuclear unions. In addition, the proposed TANF legislation is likely to neglect the needs of black children in particular because it does not address a fundamental barrier to their father's involvement: joblessness.
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=310670

**Urban Institute TANF Fact Sheet
Urban Institute has a summary of research on work and work activities among welfare recipients, use of transitional work supports, state work-participation rates, and the impact of work-related time limits.
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900619_FastFacts.pdf


FOCUS ON THE STATES

**States Cutting CHIP
Many states are cutting back on SCHIP programs. Covered the Uninsured asks if this is cutting waste in tough times or putting children and state budgets at risk for the future?
http://covertheuninsuredweek.org/news/index.php?NewsID=299

**50-State Review of Access to Kindergarten
The Education Commission of the States "Access to Kindergarten" offers a 50-state overview of how lawmakers have addressed kindergarten-related age issues--including compulsory school age, kindergarten entrance age, and kindergarten exemption.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/44/52/4452.doc

**State-by-State News
California
Young people Silicon Valley are using the Internet for schoolwork and personal communications, but a digital divide still exists between low-income youth and their more affluent counterparts, according to this information gathered by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the San Jose Mercury News.
http://www.kff.org/content/2003/20030518a/

District of Columbia
Children's Rights, Inc., reports that on May 15, a federal court judge approved a new plan to improve DC's child welfare system.
http://www.childrensrights.org/press/2003-05-16.htm

Indiana
The Indiana Youth Institute has templates to help you run and promote your youth-serving organization: an Employee Manual, a Board of Directors Manual and a Communications Manual. The cost is $25 each (includes shipping and handling). To order, contact 1-800-343-7060.
http://www.iyi.org/

North Carolina
60 percent of North Carolina's families with children lack the earnings to support even a bare-bones budget, according to "Working Hard is Still Not Enough," which documents the decline in real wages and the inadequacy of current poverty policies and programs. (See Research and Reports.)
http://www.ncjustice.org/LivingWage/

Oklahoma
Governor Brad Henry has signed the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Act, which seeks to make early childhood education opportunities available on a voluntary basis to all young children in Oklahoma.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/42/51/4251.pdf

Oregon
With state budget shortfalls threatening to force an early summer break and potential four-day school weeks, voters across Oregon said yes to tax increases to protect their schools last week. (See the May 22 article, "Many Signals, One Message.")
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1053605386272520.xml

Texas
A bill that passed the Texas Senate would allow high school students who take the recommended college-prep courses to qualify for interest-free college loans, which would be forgiven for students who graduate from a four-year degree program on time and with a 3.0 grade-point average.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/data/docmodel/78r/billtext/pdf/SB00004E.PDF

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Have a good week, everyone!

Jan Richter, advocacy director, and the Connect for Kids team
Jan@connectforkids.org